Unlimited Yuri Works
by kay4today
Summary: In which I will write about whatever Yuri pairings that I can think of. Contains fluff, lemons, fem-slash and etc. Also, you might get diabetes!
1. Healing

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything related to Fate/Stay Night. If I did, then I probably wouldn't write fanfiction about it. xD

**Author's Note: **First, I know! The title is really uncreative and I think there's a Community with the same name, but I couldn't help myself! Not much to say here either, I'm going to write whatever I feel like. Lemons, one-shots, fluff... also, some of my stories (like the one in this chapter) are going to get continued in later chapters. Suggestions can be made, but please don't feel insulted when I'm not going to write it. When I force myself to write something, well, then it'll turn out to be most likely horrible. XD

Some rules: In case the title hasn't told you already, I'm only going to write Yuri (meaning girl x girl) here. If that isn't your thing, you should probably stop reading here. I might (more like totally will xD) flip a character's gender though. For example, Fem!Gilgamesh is quite popular on certain boards and I can see why. Also, no Ilya. She might be older than she looks, but writing about someone who has the appearance of a little girl is a turn-off for me, personally. Maybe I'll decide on aging her up though. Over 20 in both mind _and_ body. And there are some fetishes I won't ever write about, but I'm not going to count all of them here. XD

Also, there _will _be crack pairings and AU stuff, or else some pairings just wouldn't work.

Have fun with the first part of this particular story.

* * *

_"Eh...?"_

_Sola looked at her right hand and let out an ear-piercing scream. Her right hand was gone. The Command Seals were gone. Without them she couldn't call for Diarmuid! She writhed on the ground in pain and shock. _

_"My hand... hand..."_

_She touched something strange and looked up. A black-haired woman was standing there, and the strange thing she had touched were her boots. There was no pity or sympathy in that woman's eyes and the injured woman knew she had to get away from her._

_"Ah... ah..."_

_Sola couldn't even crawl a whole metre before the rest of her strength left her. As she lay on the hard concrete floor in pain, she could only think of her beautiful knight. _

_She heard steps and her vision became blurred._

_She fell unconscious._

_She woke up later in a dark room. Sola had never felt so terrible in her life before. Her right arm was screaming in pain and she felt like throwing up. She was about to pass out again, but someone splashed water into her face. It was the black-haired woman._

_"Where is Kayneth Archibald El-Melloi?"_

_She blinked. "W-Wha...? I don't-" The woman took out a knife, causing Sola to take a sharp intake of breath. "N-N-No, wait!" She knew she couldn't tell the woman. The woman was an enemy, she was sure of that. Betraying Kayneth would have meant betraying Diarmuid. Her beautiful knight couldn't die! No, she wouldn't tell that woman anything! "I-I don't know anything!"_

_The black-haired woman stabbed her right arm. Sola cried out in pain. "P-Please! I really don't-" She screamed even louder when the woman twisted the knife. "Stop! Please stop! I really don't know-"_

_The woman grabbed her by the hair and forced Sola to look her in the eyes. "I am only going to ask you one more time." Her voice was cold. It was obvious that the torture she inflicted on Sola did not faze her in the slightest. " If you do not answer me, I will cut off one of your fingers. Then I will cut off another one. I will repeat this procedure until there is nothing left to cut off. Do you understand?"_

_With hot tears burning in her eyes, Sola nodded. She felt deeply ashamed of herself for giving in, but she had never experienced so much pain and shock before. She was terrified of this woman and the woman knew it. She told the black-haired woman everything she knew. After Sola finished, the usually indifferent and proud magus started to sob uncontrollably. Then, whether it was pity or just annoyance, her kidnapper knocked her out. Before Sola blacked out, she once again thought of her beautiful knight. The beautiful knight she had betrayed just now._

XXX

Dark. Everything was dark. Was she dead? Did that terrifying woman kill her?

Sola felt cool air on her face and groaned weakly. Her whole body felt incredibly light and she noticed she was lying on something soft. A comfortable bed? The last thing she could remember was being questioned by that kidnapper and she didn't find it very likely that this woman would give her that much comfort.

She opened her eyes and was greeted by a white ceiling. Sola looked around. Everything looked very... big. That was the only way she could describe it. She tried to sit up, but a jolt of pain shot through her body, causing her to cry out. She stiffened and carefully lay down on the bed again.

Sola turned her head to the side and... blinked stupididly. A stuffed bear was sitting next to the pillow her head was lying on. This whole situation was getting more and more absurd. Was this Kayneth's doing? Did Diarmuid save her after all? She didn't understand a thing.

She closed her eyes, only to open them immediately when she heard a light knock on the door. Apparently they, whoever "they" were, didn't want to wait for a response. It was a silver-haired woman that entered the room. Sola knew who that woman was. Kayneth had described her after he came back from the first battle. She was a magus of the Einzbern family. A homunculus. The red eyes were an obvious sign and so was the silver hair. Not only that, she was also the Master of Saber. Just what was going on here?

"Good morning." The Einzbern magus greeted. She seemed a little uncertain and shy, but still managed to sound cheery and even gentle. Her beautiful bell-like voice probably helped. "I heard you scream, so I wanted to check if you're alright." She smiled. "Are you? Alright, I mean?"

Sola could only nod dumbly. She had to admit, this woman was beautiful. The combination of that burguny blouse with a black ribbon and that white skirt shouldn't have looked as good on her as it did. Her black tights and white boots only undermined how elegant that woman's appearance was.

The silver-haired woman beamed. "That's good. You were sleeping rather long. Please tell me if you are hurting somewhere. Do you need something? Are you hungry? Thirsty?"

Sola opened her mouth to reply, but only a pitiful croak issued forth.

"I'll bring you a glass of water." The Einzbern woman said quickly and left the room. Sola had to admit to herself that she was a little afraid. Not very, but it was there. She knew that certain people acted nice only to surprise others with their sadism all too well. But she didn't think this woman was that kind of person. Something about her presence made her feel at ease. She still had to be cautious though. As a member of the Sophia-Ri family, she could not let herself go.

She gripped her bedsheets tightly. Why did she still have to act as if she was loyal towards her own family? They just gave her away like an object and never cared about her as a person. Never was she asked if she wanted to marry _that man_.

The door was opened again, Sola's brown eyes looked into her visitor's red ones. The homunculus regarded her with curiousity and worry. She walked forward and calmly held out a glass filled with water. "Are your arms numb? I can help you drink if you can't do it by yourself."

Sola shook her head and carefully reached for the glass with her left hand. Her left hand felt normal, but she didn't want to move all too much. The pain from before was still lingering in her mind. She took a sip, swallowed the water without a problem and then greedily drank the rest. Unfortunately she drank it a little too fast, as she coughed some of it back into the glass. She licked her lips and looked at the woman next to her, who was watching Sola with a serene smile.

"T-Thank you." She whispered, surprised by how weak her voice was sounding like. She wanted to ask what all of this was about, why she was here, where Diarmuid was, but she felt so very weak...

"You are quite welcome." The Einzbern woman said softly. "Do you want to sleep? I can close the curtains if you want me to."

Sola nodded.

The silver-haired homunculus walked towards the window and closed both it and the curtains. Before leaving the room, she turned around and wished Sola a good rest. She felt a little bad (how ridiculous was that?) for not being able to say anything back, but the other woman didn't seem bothered by it.

It took less than five minutes until she was asleep again.

XXX

"Good evening." The Einzbern woman said quietly, having entered the room after knocking lightly on the door again. "How are you feeling?"

"Not bad." Sola answered. Her voice was still quite weak, but talking wasn't much of a problem anymore. "How long did I sleep?"

"Almost ten hours."

"I see."

"... Are you hungry?" Sola's visitor asked after a short pause. "I made some soup. Do you like tomatoes?"

Sola turned her head so quick towards the other woman that she almost twisted her neck. The Einzbern magus winced slightly and returned the red-haired woman's icy glare uncertainly. "Just... what is going on here?" Sola hissed. "Are you making fun of me, Master of Saber? What am I doing here? Where is my Servant? What happened?"

"You... you don't know?" She seemed surprised.

"The last thing I remember was being tortured before this bitch knocked me out. And now here I am!"

"Oh. I thought you were conscious during... that."

"During what?" Sola asked in annoyance. "Stop babbling around idiotically and get to the point."

"Well... why don't we start by introducing ourselves?" The silver-haired woman suggested. "I am Irisviel von Einzbern. Nice to meet you." She gave Sola a small smile. Sola did not return it.

"Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri." Rolling her eyes at Irisviel's blinking, the annoyed woman added: "You may call me Sola. And I am aware that I have a strange name."

"Not at all." Irisviel raised her hands in an allaying manner. "The name just sounded a little long at first." She scratched her right cheek and grinned. "And you can call me Irisviel."

"Very well, _Irisviel._" Sola snarled. "Now tell me what happened."

And Irisviel did. Sola's anger subsided a little with every word that the silver-haired woman said. She felt a painful twinge when she heard of Diarmuid's demise and... that was it, really. Sola was surprised how well she took the Servant's death, but then again, the curse was already gone... She didn't feel much when she heard of Kayneth's death. She only felt disgusted at the way it was done. What vile trickery. She felt surprise and confusion that the Einzbern magus had argued with her ally over healing Sola. She felt something strange when the other woman told her that she healed and took care of her after she had convinced her ally that Sola was no longer a threat. It might have been gratitude, but... not really. She couldn't place that feeling.

After Irisviel was done, both women sat there in silence for a while. It was an awkward silence, but not an uncomfortable one. Which was quite an accomplishment considering the things that Irisviel had told Sola.

"I..." Irisviel cleared her throat. "I am truly sorry. You lost your fiancée and you seemed to have seen Lancer as your friend, whom you lost as well. I took a part in all of this, even though I did not want it to come to this. For that I am truly sorry."

"I never loved Kayneth. It was an arranged marriage and I did not have any say in it. I couldn't care less over his demise." Sola said coldly. She could never forget how bitter and hateful that man had made her feel like, he who was the personification of everything that she hated.

Irisviel looked at her uneasily. "Well, he did forfeit the War to save you..."

Sola scoffed. "Save me? Did he really have a choice? So he sacrificed his own Servant because he didn't want to die. What does that have to do with me?"

"He could have ordered Lancer to kill my ally with his last Command Seal, but maybe he feared that my ally would have pulled the trigger fast enough to kill you. That's why he didn't-"

"Nonsense!" Sola exclaimed. "I was just a trophy to him. He was just too scared, so he did what he was told to. Nothing more."

"Maybe..."

"No, _definitely._" Sola looked at Irisviel in annoyane as the silver-haired woman started giggling. "What is so funny?"

"Please don't be offended, but you sounded so childish just now." Irisviel said and started to giggle again. "No, _definitely._" She mockingly mimicked the red-haired woman's voice.

Sola's cheeks tinged pink. "Just be quiet." She muttered. Suddenly, a thought flashed through her mind. "Where are we?"

"We are in the Einzbern castle on the outskirts of Fuyuki City." Irisviel said proudly. "The little damage that it took during your fiancée's fight with my ally was quickly repaired."

Sola nodded. "How is the Grail War going?" She asked, causing Irisviel to wince. "What is it?"

The silver-haired woman gulped. "The Grail War... ended two days ago." Sola's eyes widened.

"Wait, how long was I asleep? You said you healed me after your ally killed Kayneth and tried to kill me, but that was it."

"You were in a coma for six days. I asked a... friend to take care of you in a secret place for the duration of the Grail War. I couldn't do it myself, since I had to keep fighting. And my ally told me I couldn't bring you to a hospital." Irisviel explained. "After the War ended, I asked my friend to help me bring you to the castle. I was worried that you would never wake up, but that fortunately didn't come true. I had to do something though and just returned today."

"... Why didn't you bring me to a hospital after the War was over?" Sola asked. She had about a hundred other questions too, but this was the first she could think of.

Irisviel fidgeted uncomfortably. "Why don't you try to eat something before? Warming the soup won't last longer than two minutes."

Of course, Sola's stomach took the opportunity to announce its emptiness right after the Einzbern woman had finished speaking. "I suppose a bowl of soup wouldn't hurt."

She ate four. And the amount of bread she devoured in the process was nigh uncountable.

Sola sighed contentedly after having finished drinking the rest of her last bowl of tomato soup, a bit embarrassed how she spilled some of it on the plate it was on.

"I hope it was tasty." Irisviel took the plate from Sola and set it on the bedside table. "I'm not really used to making soup."

"It was quite good." Sola admitted grudgingly. And it was. Maybe she was so used to eating food of high class that a simple tomato soup was a welcome change for once, she thought.

"I'm glad."

There was a short silence before the red-haired woman asked a natural question.

"Who won?"

Irisviel blinked. "What do you-"

"_The War,_ of course! What are you, stupid?!" Sola interrupted her harshly, causing Irisviel to flinch.

"I... I don't know."

Sola gritted her teeth. "What do you mean, you 'don't know'? You have survived, haven't you? So you have to know who-"

"I died." This time Irisviel interrupted _her_.

"Wh... What?" Sola's anger disappeared in an instant. There was only confusion left. "But you're here." She inwardly cringed at saying something so stupididly obvious.

"I don't remember. There was this enemy Master... Kirei Kotomine. He... snapped my neck and then everything went dark. And then I suddenly woke up... there was fire everywhere. Chaos. Something destroyed a part of the city. Someone found me and I was brought to a hospital, but they said I was perfectly fine. I tried to..." She paused. "N-Not important. I wanted to... well, and then I remembered you and called my friend. And..." She bit her lip. "Well, you know the rest..."

"Who said you died? Maybe he just choked you into unconsciousness and-"

"No." Irisviel interrupted her again. "I know that I died in that moment."

"How?"

"I just do." Irisviel said, her voice growing more and more agitated. "It's hard to explain."

"That doesn't make any sense. How could you be alive if you died?"

"I don't know."

"Why didn't you bring me to a hospital instead of bringing me to your castle?"

Irisviel didn't say anything and suddenly seemed to find the ground very interesting.

"Answer me."

There was still no answer. Sola would have liked to slap the silver-haired woman, but forced herself to stay calm. Irisviel met her gaze uncertainly. Tears were flowing down her cheeks, and suddenly Sola wanted to tell her that she didn't need an answer. Feelings of guilt were new to her, and it confused her more than anything else that this magus of the Einzbern family had sparked them. But before Sola could act, Irisviel gave her answer.

"I didn't want to be alone."

It was not more than a soft whisper, but Sola heard it nonetheless. And even though she should have, no, _wanted _to be furious at Irisviel's selfishness... she couldn't. Irisviel sounded so sad, so _utterly broken_ that she could not do anything but pity the crying woman that was sitting in front of her.

"H-Hey now." Sola gulped nervously. She didn't know how to deal with this at all. "You still have your family..."

"No..." Irisviel said quietly. "They were angry at me and said I shouldn't even be here anymore. They were right. I was supposed to be the Grail's vessel. Then I woke up in the ruins of the city. And after I asked my friend to bring you to my castle, I told them to take care of you while I wanted to report to my family. But they were furious. And my daughter..." She started to sob. "M-My Ilya. They said they'd use her for the Fifth War and said I wouldn't ever see her again. Ilya. Ilya..." Her sobs became heavier and heavier.

Sola remembered how utterly helpless and vulnerable she felt when that awful woman tortured her and could recall how desperately she wanted to be saved from it. She knew that Irisviel felt a different kind of helplessness, but could she still ignore that? Could she really stay mad at this woman who had seemingly lost everything in the Grail War? Could she really stay mad at this woman who had argued with her ally to save her life? Could she really stay mad at this woman who had made sure that she was taken care of while she was in a coma?

But she didn't know how to comfort another person. Sola had no idea what she was supposed to say. That everything would be alright? That she could understand her feelings? She wasn't good at this, so she did the only thing she could think of. She reached out with her arm and lightly patted the crying woman's back. It was a good thing that Irisviel was sitting so close to her bed, or otherwise there wasn't anything she could have done without hurting herself.

Irisviel reacted by stiffening slightly. She looked at Sola, making the red-haired woman a little uncomfortable with how intensely she was staring at her. Suddenly having an idea, Sola reached for the stuffed bear next to her pillow. She held it out to the crying woman. Irisviel looked at the bear, then to Sola and then to the bear again.

"Here." Sola said awkwardly, her face slowly getting redder and redder. "It's not like I can do much in the state I am, so..."

"T-Thanks." Irisviel took the stuffed bear and pressed it against her chest. "I put the stuffed animal next to your pillow. I thought it might give you some comfort." She smiled bitterly. "And yet I'm the one who needs to be comforted by it."

Sola shrugged. "Participating in the Grail War was not my choice. I was just going along with Kayneth's plans, because he was my fiancée and I had to. I liked Lancer, but he would have disappeared anyway in the end." She decided to downplay the liking she took to Diarmuid. She didn't think it was necessary to mention it. "The only thing I really lost was my right hand. I don't need to be comforted."

With Diarmuid's curse gone, she was able to think clearly now. And she realized that it was never Diarmuid she was in love with, it was what he symbolized. Chivalrous, someone who treated her nicely not because he wanted to suck up to her, but out of genuine loyalty and perhaps even kindness... and most importantly, she always dreamed of a knight in shining armor who'd save her from this trifling life. She knew there were magi who had it worse than her, but did that mean her parents were justified in giving her away like cattle? No, they definitely weren't! And she remembered how _frustrated _she felt when Diarmuid kept ignoring her for the sake of Kayneth.

And there was another thing that Sola realized. It was her fault. She could have resisted the curse if she had tried, but she hadn't. She didn't know just how far she would go, but that was hardly an excuse. And even though she had always disliked Kayneth, the thought that she tortured him and threatened to cut off his hand disgusted her. She also remembered how happy she was after becoming Diarmuid's Master and now felt deep shame when she recalled that she wanted to make him love her with the last two Command Spells. There was no need to sweetalk it, it would have essentially made her into a rapist. Even her fiancée had been better than this.

All Diarmuid wanted was to serve his Master with honor, but she had ruined his dream. Kayneth was an arrogant twit, but he normally wasn't actively malicious. If it hadn't been for her, Diarmuid would have probably at least died with honor instead of cursing everyone and everything in anger.

And now Sola was crying too. She started to violently wipe the tears from her face with her left hand and tried to (mostly successfully) choke the escaping sobs back.

Something fluffy and soft was touching her cheek. Sola looked up and saw Irisviel poking her left cheek with the stuffed bear, smiling shyly while doing so.

"Looks like you need to be comforted after all." The silver-haired woman teased and surprisingly enough, Sola felt the corners of her mouth curve upwards, if only a little bit. "I can leave if you want me to." Irisviel's expression became a tad more serious. "You must still feel very weak."

"I suppose getting some sleep wouldn't hurt." Sola muttered. She did feel very tired. Taking the plate with bowl, spoon and bread crumbs on it, Irisviel walked towards the door. Sola felt like she had to say something. The Einzbern woman had just been crying her eyes out a minute before. Could she really let her leave like that?

"Irisviel?"

The mentioned woman turned around. "Yes, Sola?" Sola didn't know why simply calling out to the other woman made the Einzbern homunculus flash her such a radiant smile, but that wasn't important right now.

"I..." Sola's cheeks heated up from what she was about to say. "Well, we don't know each other very much. I am in your... debt, since you have saved me, I suppose. And I suppose staying here until I have healed wouldn't bother me much. So..." She averted her eyes. "So what I'm trying to say is that you... well, you aren't alone. I'm not good at this, but still... I am... here." She had never felt so awkward in her life before, but when she saw the silver-haired woman's face visibly brightening, Sola thought the embarrassment was worth it.

"I...-"

"Don't." Sola interrupted firmly, but not harshly. "I don't need you to thank me."

Irisviel gave her an odd look, but then smiled and nodded. "Good night, Sola."

"Good night." Sola said without much emotion. She felt weak and sighed in relief when she heard the door close. She had felt many different and conflicting emotions in the span of a few hours and really just wanted to sleep. She lay her head on her pillow, turned left and... was surprised to see that Irisviel had left the stuffed bear next to it. Her cheeks promptly flushed red again, but Sola couldn't resist. She took the plushy little thing and pressed it against her chest. She was just glad that no one was seeing her like this.

Sola fell asleep after no more than five minutes.

* * *

I know, I know. Starting with a pairing like that... and to think the first chapter wouldn't even include a kiss. xD

But yeah, this is only the first part of the story. I'm not saying the pairing is believable in the first place, but Iri and Sola falling in wuv too fast would be ridiculous. I did warn you about the crack pairings though!

Also, it's kinda fun to write Sola's character. We really don't know that much about her, but I'm trying to portray her in a way that doesn't make her too sympathetic but also not too unsympathetic... if you know what I mean. And I adore Iri, so... yeah. xD

The main characters will change with every new chapter. Now it's Irisviel and Sola, but if the next chapter has, for example, Ayako x Sakura, it'll be Ayako and Sakura.

Anyway, I hope you liked it!


	2. Healing (Part 2)

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything related to Fate/Stay Night. If I did, then I probably wouldn't write fanfiction about it. xD

**Author's Note: **First of all, thanks for the reviews. I'd keep on writing even if I got none, but it's really really nice and encouraging to get them. Thanks a lot!

As one reviewer pointed out, it's true that I'm a little confused about the circumstances that allowed this to happen, though I have some vague idea. From an in-story perspective it makes sense that Irisviel wouldn't know what happened though, I think. By the way, the "friend" is not really important and just some plot-device contact of Kerry that I thought of. If Iri actually managed to convince him to spare Sola, I figured he'd call a contact of his and tell that person to take care (and more importantly, keep an eye on her) of her.

As for the pairings: I will definitely write Irisviel x Saber and Rider x Sakura at one point. It's been a while since I've seen Fate/Prototype, so I can't say about Ayaka x Misaya, though I do like Misaya's design.

Chapter start!

* * *

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that?" Sola looked at the silver-haired woman with disbelief. Surely she misheard and the Einzbern homunculus had said something completely different. Yes, that was the only possible-

"I will have to bathe you." Irisviel repeated nonchalantly.

Oh. Apparently she hadn't misheard anything.

"That won't be necessary." Sola said in a flustered tone. "I can bathe myself just fine."

"Oh?" Irisviel clapped her hands with childish glee. "Then you could just stand up and go to the bathroom yourself, could you not?"

"... I suppose I could."

About thirty seconds passed.

"Right now."

"Right now?"

"Right now."

"Fine." Sola scowled. She would show Irisviel! There was no way that Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri would ever have to be bathed by anyone! Thankfully, sitting up didn't hurt nearly as much as it did the day before. So far, so good. Supporting herself with her left hand, Sola swung her legs out of the bed and let them dangle for a few seconds. She didn't feel any pain. Feeling a little more confident, she placed her feet on the ground and tried to stand up... only to realize that the pressure was too much for her legs. Letting out a little shriek, Sola rowed with her arms in a futile attempt to fall backwards instead of crashing on the floor face first.

Luckily for Sola, Irisviel caught her mid-fall and brought her back into her sitting position from before.

"I told you, but you wouldn't listen." The silver-haired woman reprimanded her as if talking to a child. "You aren't able to walk properly yet."

"When will I?"

"Hmm..." Irisviel chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "Tomorrow, I would say. I should have enough prana to heal you fully by then."

"I'm impressed." Sola remarked. "Your healing magic seems to be superb." And she meant it. She was able to use healing magic herself and did a fine job at healing Kayneth after he had been crippled, but she would have never been able to heal the kind of wounds that she had received from being shot by Irisviel's ally. She shouldn't even have survived, yet the other woman had been able to save her.

"Ah, it's nothing special." Irisviel waved the praise off with a small smile. "I was supposed to support my Servant with it, so I had to be more than just good. I wouldn't have been a very good homunculus if I hadn't been able to do even that. The thing I really specialize in is Transmutation."

Sola crossed her arms (which admittedly, looked rather strange with her right hand missing). "Then perhaps bathing just has to wait until tomorrow."

"Well, I would like to wash the bedsheets today." Irisviel said. "And really no offense intended, but you... stink."

"I do _not _stink!" Sola protested, causing Irisviel to giggle. "What is so funny?" The annoyed woman asked.

"Ilya didn't like taking baths either. And you're acting just like her."

"I like taking baths, you idiot! The problem is being bathed by another person!" Honestly, Irisviel's behavior was truly exasperating sometimes. That Servant of hers must have been a saint for having managed to put up with that.

"Ah, I see." Irisviel nodded to herself. "You don't want me to see you naked."

"What?" Sola sputtered. "No! I just don't want to be treated like... _this_."

There was a brief silence. Sola averted her eyes when the other woman gave her a sympathetic look.

"It's just the two of us here. You don't have to put on this act in front of me."

"I don't need your help." Sola hissed. "Nor do I need your sympathy. Just leave me alone."

"Well..." Irisviel chuckled nervously. "You would be dead without me, and yesterday you seemed fine with crying in front of me, so I don't see what the problem is."

"Leave. Me. Alone."

The silver-haired woman looked like she wanted to sigh. She was obviously upset with Sola's behavior.

"Alright." She stood up and walked towards the door. "You should try to rest a bit." Irisviel simply said before stepping out of the room, closing the door behind her.

It didn't take long for Sola's anger to subside, leaving only a slightly uncomfortable feeling of emptiness behind. She didn't want to admit it, but _both _of them knew perfectly well that she needed help. And she actually liked that Irisviel showed her sympathy too. It was... nice to know that someone cared about her. Maybe it was a little pathetic, but she really didn't care about such things at this point.

Sola really didn't know why she got _that _angry when Irisviel accused her of putting an act on, but something inside her just snapped at that moment. Honestly, she knew that she overreacted in a ridiculously overblown manner... but she didn't know why she did. Was it her stupid pride? Or that she worried over someone thinking of her as weak?

What she did know was that she felt bad for lashing out at Irisviel, which was something new for her as well. She wasn't used to feeling guilty over such things. Insulting and belittling Kayneth even gave her some form of satisfaction, and never had she felt guilty for doing that. Maybe it was because Sola felt indebted to the silver-haired woman, since she had saved her life.

And maybe she also felt like this because she was starting to genuinely like Irisviel. The life with her family was not very enjoyable. She had been reminded that she was supposed to dedicate her life to a person she didn't even know again and again. She had always been told that she was supposed to be glad for such an opportunity, but she felt nothing but contempt whenever she thought about it. She could never really talk to anyone or act in a way that would have made people question her upbringing. Telling someone how much she hated everyone around her and being around magi would have been unacceptable and she didn't know what her family would have done if they had found out.

But with Irisviel... well, Sola felt like she could tell her anything. She had told her many things about her life with her family and complained and lamented about the unfairness of it all. She pretty much poured her heart and soul out to Irisviel... and the other woman listened, soothed and even seemed genuinely upset with how Sola had been treated by her family and the people around her. She felt pleased that someone listened to her and could even understand her feelings.

She did feel guilty after a while. Not that she minded that it was all about herself at first, but then she remembered that Irisviel implied that she lost _everything_ at one point, which made Sola feel slightly disgusted at her own selfish attitude. But Irisviel just waved her off when Sola had suggested that she could talk about her own troubles as well and said she wasn't ready to talk about her issues yet.

Sola sighed. Perhaps she would have to apologize to Irisviel. And she would also have to keep her temper in check. She _hated _apologizing and didn't want to make a habit out of it.

And maybe she would take the other woman up on that bathing offer after all. If there was one thing that Sola truly hated, it was the feeling of being unclean. And she felt very unclean right now. The high-society of magi was not very different than the one of normal humans in that regard. Appearance and hygiene were seen as very important, and Sola had never once shown any sloppiness.

And even though she couldn't care less about the high-society right now, she was still very used to having a perfect appearance and perfect hygiene. She seemed to have traded her usual behavior for a more friendly and open one around Irisviel, but after so many years of keeping a stoic and cool facade... well, it certainly felt good to open up a little.

And besides, appearance and hygiene were genuinely important to her anyway! Society had nothing to do with that!

Sola still felt uncomfortable, though. Irisviel would be the first one to see her in a (consciously) naked state, but maybe trusting her to this extent would make her happy. And more importantly, it would stop making Sola feel like dirt.

Both literally and figuratively.

XXX

"A wheelchair?"

"Yes."

"Where do you have it from?"

"The city."

"When did you get it?"

"While you were asleep."

"Alright, then."

Sola glanced at the kind of chair that Kayneth had spent the last pitiful days of his life in. Unlike her fiancée's, it looked quite old and not very modern. In fact, it looked pretty terrible. She decided to voice her complaints.

"Well, we only need it for one day and I wanted to save some money. So I bought the cheapest one!" Irisviel replied. She had a point. And since she was probably too weak to carry Sola's weight, a wheelchair seemed like the obvious solution.

"Fine. Let's get this over with before I change my mind." Sola said haughtily, swinging her legs out of the bed and edging closer to where the wheelchair stood.

There hadn't been any need to think about whether she would take that bath or not after she woke up earlier. She had a nightmare, and the sweat it produced was more than enough to prefer being bathed by Irisviel to lying in that bed soaked with her sweat any longer.

Irisviel managed to help her on the wheelchair without any problems. Before Sola knew it, they had already arrived at the bathroom. Apparently seeing the face Sola was making, Irisviel said: "There's no need to be worried. I've bathed Ilya many times."

Either she didn't get what Sola was worried about now or it was a poor attempt at lightening things up. Either way, Sola kept her mouth shut. If she didn't, she'd fear something unpleasant might have come out of it.

The bathtub had been filled with water already. She was looking forward to feeling the hot water against her body. At least that was something.

"A bubble bath?" Sola nodded satisfactory to herself. "I suppose you did _something _right, at least."

"Can you... um..." Irisviel's cheeks reddened a little. "Undress yourself? Or should I...?"

"Oh. Well..." Sola's cheeks quickly followed their example. "I might have some trouble with the trousers." Since she couldn't really move that well, undressing her trousers while sitting on that wheelchair was pretty troublesome.

She quickly discarded her blouse with a few flicks of her wrist. Then she had to lift her rear a little so that Irisviel could pull her trousers down. It was... embarrassing, to say at least. Both women gulped when they were aware that the worst part was yet to come.

"Can you undo your bra yourself?" Irisviel asked.

"Obviously."

"What about your panties?"

"I... suppose I can be gracious enough to accept your help on this." Sola said with as much dignity as she could muster. It wasn't much.

She had to resist the urge to cover her chest after undoing the bra. All she could do now was accept this situation and meet it with as much dignity and pride as it warranted! Covering her chest would _not _have been very dignified, she thought to herself. Irisviel would see (and touch) her naked body anyway, so there was no need to do such an unnecessary and faint-hearted thing!

She lifted her rear again, and Irisviel quickly pulled her panties down and threw them aside.

"This is embarrassing..." Irisviel covered her blushing face.

"Oh?" Sola smirked. "I thought it would be just like bathing your daughter? And say, weren't you trying to tease me about having to show you my naked body earlier? Whatever happened to that?" She asked in mock-surprise. Seeing Irisviel so flustered made Sola feel far more confident. It also made her want to tease the other woman more. Getting petty revenge was just too amusing!

"Well, I _thought _it wouldn't be much different, but..." The blushing woman trailed off helplessly.

"You still need to help me with getting into the bathtub." Sola reminded her helpfully, though the expression on her face was what one might call "irritatingly smug".

"I guess you're right. I should..."

About thirty seconds passed.

"Right now."

"Right now?"

"Right now."

"Fine!" Irisviel stomped on the ground, with so much vigor that Sola wondered how she could still walk properly afterwards. She pointed at Sola dramatically. "Prepare yourself, Sola-Ui Sophia-Re Nuanga-Li! I am going to help you, whether you like it or not!"

"I would say that I am already plenty prepared, Irisviel." Sola said dryly, her left eye slightly twitching at the utter bastardization of her beautiful name.

"Well, then what are we waiting for?!" Apparently Sola's dryness did nothing to decrease the other woman's energetic behavior.

Irisviel pushed the wheelchair closer to the bathtub. She turned to Sola with a determined expression on her face, although her cheeks were still rosy. Sola looked at her expectantly, throwing in a raised eyebrow for good measure. Nodding to herself, as if to make sure this was the right decision, Irisviel finally reached forward.

The first thing Sola noted was that Irisviel's fingers were pretty cold. It wasn't the uncomfortable kind, but still notable. Her touch was very gentle, almost as if she was touching porcelain instead of another woman. Obviously, Irisviel was trying her best not to hurt the red-haired magus. But there was something about Irisviel's touch that gave Sola a funny feeling in her stomach. First she thought it was nausea, but that wasn't really it. It was... weird. No one had ever touched her like this before, so logically she had to feel good at being finally touched with so much care, right? But she didn't feel well. Not that she felt sick either, it was just... weird. Weird, weird, weird!

The silver-haired homunculus managed to safely help Sola into the bathtub, and that weird feeling was the only discomfort that Sola had felt. By the time she touched the hot water, even that was forgotten.

"Ahhh." Sola closed her eyes and sighed in bliss. Granted, her last hot bath wasn't exactly years ago, but she felt that a relaxing bath was well-deserved after all the horrible things that had happened in those last few days.

She opened her eyes and glanced at Irisviel when she heard the woman giggling. "Judging from your reaction, I take you're enjoying yourself?" She half-asked, half-stated.

"I suppose it was worth the whole hassle." Sola said, seemingly ignoring that she was the one who made it a hassle in the first place. After a small pause she, somewhat grudgingly, added: "I apologize for earlier. I snapped at you for little reason."

"It's okay." Irisviel smiled. "You were just frustrated that you couldn't go to the bathroom yourself. I can relate."

"And now that I can move without much pain, I also won't have to use that dreaded bedpan anymore." Sola said, somehow managing to combine pure malice and happy satisfaction at once. "You wouldn't even have had to do all of this if I still had my right hand. Come to think of it, that black-haired woman who cut my hand off... is she the ally you have been talking about all this time?"

"Maiya?" Irisviel cocked her head. "Oh. Well, she was one of them."

"What happened to her?"

"She was injured when she tried to protect me against a Servant. I... I don't think she survived." Irisviel concluded sadly.

"That's good." Sola's lips curled up to a cold smile. "I hope she suffered."

"Please don't say that." Irisviel said firmly. "I understand how you must feel, but-"

"Understand? _Understand_?" Sola asked in disbelief. "That... _trash _cut my right hand off. She deserved what happened to her." She glared at Irisviel, daring her to try to justify the black-haired woman's actions.

But there was only silence. Furthermore, Irisviel just looked sad and uncomfortable. Sola decided to ask another question.

"Who was that other ally?"

"He was the actual Master of Saber, and the one who injured your fiancée."

"You mean you were just a proxy Master?"

"Yes." Irisviel said. "Kiritsugu preferred to act from the shadows."

"While you were out in the open. Like bait. What a coward." Sola said with disdain.

"He was also the one who ordered Maiya to do all of this to you, so it's not really fair to blame her."

"I blame both, then. What happened to him?"

"I told you how I was waking up after I died?"

"Yes." Sola nodded. "Although I still don't think you actually died, just that you were choked into unconsciousness."

Ignoring that, Irisviel continued: "When I woke up, he was next to me. Dead."

There was a short silence, a few drops of water dripping from Sola's left hand into the bubbles being the only noise.

And then Sola threw her head back and laughed. Laughed for nearly half a minute. Laughed until tears were running down her cheeks. Laughed until it nearly became impossible to breath for her. When it finally died down, Sola thought it was the happiest laugh she had ever let out and felt truly happy for the first time in ages.

"I'm so glad." Sola said, still snickering a little. "They got what they deserved. For the horrible things they did to me. So what if they took my hand? I'm still alive and they aren't. So who won in the end, huh? Who?!"

Irisviel watched everything with an expressionless face, her eyes slightly widening at Sola's outburst at the end. The grin on Sola's face was both malicious and crazy, and Irisviel would have lied if she had said that it didn't scare her at all. She also seemed to have been talking more to herself than to the silver-haired woman.

She felt something else, though. Anger. Sola's reaction was understandable, considering what the woman had to go through, but did that give her the right to laugh at Kiritsugu and Maiya like that? To laugh at their deaths?

"What's with that look?" Sola asked. "It's not like they were your friends, right? Just people you worked with together, for whatever reason."

"I did consider Maiya my friend." Irisviel answered softly. "And Kiritsugu... he was my husband."

Sola's eyes widened at this. "No way. And your husband used you as bait? Your husband tried to kill Kayneth and me with such an underhanded and pathetic trick?" Sola smiled cruelly. "Hm, well at least he's dead now. Hey..." She looked at the now crying Irisviel in confusion. "Don't tell me you actually liked that guy."

"You didn't know Kiritsugu like I did. He had his reasons. And he only was fighting for peace."

"_Peace_?" Sola almost shrieked. "He tried to kill Kayneth and me for little reason. And you claim he did that for the sake of peace?!"

"Please." Irisviel whispered. "I-I can explain it to you, but not now. I don't feel ready to talk about him yet. So please..."

"... Fine." Sola snorted. "You should be grateful that I'm not pressing this, considering what an _awful _person your husband must have been."

Irisviel took a deep breath and tried to control her anger. Was the other woman just blatantly trying to provoke her now?

The Einzbern magus decided to break the silence. "So, it's probably awkward to try to wash your hair with just one hand. Shall I help you?"

"I will have to learn how to do that on my own, so no. But you could change and wash the bedsheets now." Sola suggested, although she mostly just wanted to have some time on her own. It wasn't like Irisviel's presence really bothered her, but she preferred to bath alone.

"Do you want me to close the door?" Irisviel asked.

"Yes." More privacy was always fine with her.

Sola closed her eyes as she heard Irisviel's steps become less and less audible.

... It wasn't bad of her to laugh at people that Irisviel had clearly valued in a way. They tortured and tried to kill her, so the fact that she hated them was fully justified! So what if Irisviel cried for them? It wasn't like the horrible people that naive woman had associated herself with deserved it! Why did she cry for those... those _murderers _anyway? She was so stupid! So stupid, stupid, _stupid_! What an infuriating woman!

And no, the fact that she hated herself right now didn't mean she was in the wrong either! The only bad thing she did was making Irisviel cry and she felt guilty for it, that was the only reason for how terrible she felt about this. Why did she feel guilty and terrible, since she was clearly in the right? Irisviel cried, yes, but she was _wrong _to do so! It was wrong that the homunculus cried for them! So why? Why did she feel so terrible about this?

The answer was obvious. The reason for it wasn't important, it was the sight of Irisviel crying that Sola couldn't stand, regardless of the reason for it. But why?

That answer was obvious as well. She cared for Irisviel. She valued her. She _liked _her.

And how couldn't she? Irisviel was the nicest, most patient person she had ever met. Not to mention how helpful she was. She always listened to Sola's worries and problems. Not only that, she also tried to understand. She asked questions and patiently listened to Sola's explanations. It was obvious that she actually _cared _about Sola's problems instead of just _acting _nice. Her cheerful behavior was incredibly endearing and she sometimes was just plain adorable, Sola had to admit. Yet she knew when she had to be serious, a fact that surprised Sola again and again in the rare instances where she saw it. Not that it was important, but Irisviel also was a very beautiful woman. Almost rivaling Sola's own beauty, if not even surpassing it. Not that it was important, of course!

... There was no way Irisviel was more beautiful than her anyway. Sure, she had those red eyes and that captivating silver hair, but Sola's exotic red hair _surely _beat both by lightyears!

Sola sighed and rubbed her temples, stopped when she realized that she was rubbing the right side with the stump where her right hand used to be, and then just let her arms sink with a scowl.

Perhaps yet another apology was in order. She _had _made Irisviel cry after all. Even though she hated apologizing... Well, she would think about this later. There was a bath to enjoy!

XXX

Having stuffed the (rather sweaty) bed sheets inside of it, Irisviel turned the washing machine on with a thoughtful look on her face. Oh, she wasn't thinking about the difference between washing whites and coloreds (which wasn't nearly as complicated to begin with).

No, she was thinking about a certain woman with red hair and brown eyes. Sola-Ui Sophia-Li Nuanba-Re... or something like that. She really had to learn how to remember that name. It wasn't that long! Oh well, she mostly just called her "Sola" anyway. The full name was reserved for serious and dramatic moments, just like in those movies that Kiritsugu had shown her!

Irisviel remembered Sola from Archibald's profile, although Kiritsugu hadn't written much on her. Mediocre magus (since the Family Crest was given to Sola's older brother), though with far more magic circuits than the average magus. Engaged to Archibald, because she had a very valuable bloodline, thus practically guaranteeing that the heir of the Archibald family would become even greater than his/her father. Typical magi politics.

Pretty much nothing on her personality though. Kiritsugu probably hadn't seen her as important enough for that. But Irisviel thought she knew the other woman quite well at this point.

Sola was... the first word that came to her mind was "haughty", but that wasn't _quite _it. People were usually more complicated than being defined by some adjective after all.

Still, Sola was rather full of herself. Perhaps a bit too prone to emotional outbursts and snapping at her, but the red-haired woman just had been over several very hard days, so Irisviel found it understandable. That didn't mean it wasn't frustrating sometimes, of course.

Although she was pleased that Sola _did _try to be nice and helpful sometimes. She also was mostly polite. ... Mostly.

Sola had opened up to her remarkably quickly, although Irisviel wasn't sure whether it was because Sola liked and trusted her enough or because Sola just had to tell _someone _due to having gone through some serious emotional turmoil in those last few days. Maybe it was both.

Still, the last few days weren't exactly easy for Irisviel either. Her husband dead, her daughter lost... not to mention that she _died_! She outright admitted to Sola that the only reason she didn't bring her to a hospital was because she didn't want to be alone. She had expected outrage, but found understanding, sympathy and even something like compassion (well, as much compassion as Sola could muster) much to her surprise. This was the point where she realized that there was more to Sola than she had thought before. Irisviel could honestly say that she thought of her as a friend by now.

They talked a lot. It was mostly about Sola's life prior to the Grail War, but Irisviel didn't mind. She didn't feel like talking about her own life, and it clearly made Sola feel better about herself, so she never had a reason to complain. Maybe it was silly of her since she had only known the woman for a few days, but she was genuinely angry at Sola's family for basically treating her like an object. Kiritsugu had told her many times about how most magi thought like and about their traditions, but hearing actual examples of it was... sickening, to say at least. She knew what it was like to be seen as a mere tool. In fact, she knew that all too well.

Irisviel put the clean sheets she had fetched earlier on Sola's bed and regarded it with a slight smile. Hopefully Sola liked blue! Now she had to cook dinner. She wanted to have it ready before Sola was finished with her bath.

Ah... the bath. Irisviel had teased Sola over it, but then actually undressing the other woman felt beyond awkward. She was well-aware that Sola was a rather attractive woman. Exotic-looking red hair of medium length, pretty (if a little generic) light brown eyes and certainly not lacking in the bust department. Sola had obviously taken great care of her body before she was injured, judging from the near perfect skin, manicured fingernails and pedicured toenails. Earlier Irisviel realized that Sola had pretty nice legs, too. Not that she was a pervert, it was just that she couldn't help but notice it while undressing her!

Honestly, the worst thing she could say about Sola's appearance was that she had grown a little pale, but Irisviel knew she just had to go outside a little to get some color again.

Sola had tried to to tell her that there was a difference between helping a disabled adult and a child to take a bath, but she didn't think about it much. Although Irisviel didn't think she would have felt _that _embarrassed if she had had to help, for example, Maiya (and undressing your husband's mistress _had _to be pretty embarrassing...)! So she wondered why she felt so awkward with helping Sola. Well, Kiritsugu had always told her that most feelings were pretty irrational.

And feeling embarrassed about pulling the panties off a woman's legs who couldn't move properly because the mistress of Irisviel's husband shot her to eliminate potential enemies for a War centered around a cup that could fulfill every wish... okay, that actually _did _sound pretty awkward.

Although she knew that wasn't the reason why she had felt awkward. She barley ever thought about any of those things, mostly because she just didn't want to dwell on the past.

What Irisviel wanted to do now was clear to her. She wanted to get Ilya back more than anything else, but she knew that she couldn't do it on her own. Would some of Kiritsugu's contacts help? If she gave them enough money? Would they be able to do it?

She had to think about this carefully, and Sola always was a welcome distraction whenever she needed to take a break from her constant worrying.

... Would Sola help her? She did save her life and- no, that train of thought was wrong. There was no way that Sola would agree to such a thing. She couldn't ask her for help anyway. Sola might even think all of this was a ploy to make her help Irisviel to save her daughter. It was kind of ridiculous, but Sola _did _seem pretty paranoid at times. Besides, she couldn't really ask Sola to help her anyway. She had gone through enough, even if the red-haired magus tried to act like she didn't care. Well, she certainly took everything rather well, but Irisviel just didn't buy that the incident several days ago hadn't affected Sola at all. And she also felt somewhat responsible for Kiritsugu's actions, even though she didn't know that he would be so ruthless.

Irrational feelings, again? Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Irisviel tried to think of something different.

Like... if she really got Ilya back, that would be great. She would have to explain that her daddy couldn't be with them anymore (Irisviel felt something painful in her chest at that thought), but eventually all would be fine again. Or so she liked to think. She would go to school, learn Alchemy from her mother, they would find someone who would make Ilya live as long as normal humans, maybe Sola could teach her magecraft too... wait, why would Sola be with them? What was that thought about? Irisviel regarded her as a friend, but did Sola think the same of her? Would they even talk after Sola went back to her family? Irisviel felt yet another painful stab in her chest when she thought the answer to that was probably "no".

Irisviel chuckled lightly. She thought and worried about so many silly things. She had to focus on cooking now. Yes, Irisviel wanted to live in the present, not the potential future!

That didn't mean thinking about it wasn't important, though.

XXX

Helping Sola out of the bathtub wasn't as awkward as Irisviel had thought. Maybe because she already went through that whole "seeing her naked" phase earlier. Or maybe because Sola didn't feel like teasing her and was rather quiet through the whole process.

That didn't mean it wasn't awkward at all. Helping her out of the bathtub was harder than helping her in had been. She helped Sola on the with towels covered wheelchair with relative ease. Well, she did almost drop Sola due to how wet and slippery the bath had caused her to be, but Sola surely wasn't the kind of woman who would complain about this.

"You almost dropped me."

Ah, well.

"I'm sorry. You're wet, so-"

"Water usually makes people wet, Irisviel. You should try to keep that in mind next time."

Irisviel almost wanted to puff her cheeks. That woman and her stupid smartass remarks! She also didn't like getting interrupted, and Sola interrupted her pretty often.

But she chose to ignore Sola's remark like she usually did and instead reached for the pink and fluffy towel that she had prepared before filling the bath.

"Stay still, I'm going to rub you dry." Seeing Sola's protest coming from a mile away, Irisviel quickly added: "I know you can do it yourself, but you can't reach every part of your body in the state you're in. So just let me do this for you, please."

To her surprise, Sola's look of annoyance quickly changed into a mocking smirk. "If you want to touch me so badly, why not just say so? Was just seeing me naked not enough?" Again with that infuriating teasing! But this time Irisviel wouldn't let Sola have the upper hand!

Smiling at the sitting woman as sultry as she could, Irisviel got on eye level with Sola. "Maybe I do want to touch you." She said in a sing-song voice, smile growing wider at the look of disbelief that Sola was currently giving her. It didn't last long though.

"Fine. Just get it over with. I suppose it will save us some time." Sola said, crossing her arms and turning her head haughtily. "And don't think I don't know what you were trying to do just now."

"Am I that easy to read?" Irisviel asked with a small laugh, though she didn't get an answer, so she just started rubbing the other woman dry. She felt like pouting at her teasing being brushed aside so easily!

Trying her best to be careful, Irisviel slowly rubbed gentle circles over Sola's skin. She apparently did a good job, judging from Sola's closed eyes and relaxed expression.

"Enjoying it?" Irisviel asked, this time smiling happily instead of teasingly.

"Just continue." Sola muttered in response. She tried to make it sound annoyed, but was too relaxed to really make her voice sound like it, so she just ended up sounding tired.

Irisviel complied, and for a minute the only noise was the sound of rubbing. Then Sola broke the silence again.

"What happened to your Servant? Kayneth and I were surprised to hear that King Arthur was a woman."

"I don't know. When I woke up after the priest killed-"

"Choked into unconsciousness."

"me, I couldn't find her. And she didn't answer my calls." Irisviel finished, ignoring Sola's interjection again.

"She probably died." Sola said, a hint of satisfaction in her voice. "Hopefully a dishonorable death, just like Lancer's. To think King Arthur would be such a cowardly-"

"No, you're getting the wrong idea!" Irisviel exclaimed. "Saber was so disgusted that she almost killed Kiritsugu for having done this! She didn't know this would happen, and she wouldn't have gone along with it. She even helped me with getting you to my friend after I healed you."

"... I see." Sola hemmed slightly. "I suppose she was a noble person. I hope she had a death worthy of a warrioress, at least."

"I hope so, too." Irisviel smiled sadly. "I didn't know her for very long, but I did treasure her as a friend."

"I see." Sola looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. You lost so much. It's amazing how nice you are to me after everything you had to go through. I even laughed when I heard your husband died. I'm sorry."

"Thank you." Irisviel was rubbing her hair dry now. "I can't really blame you for feeling satisfaction over their deaths. I was angry that you did, but I could understand it at the same time. It means a lot to me that you apologized for it."

There was another short silence, before Irisviel gave the towel to Sola. "Here. I figured you would like to dry that yourself." Blushing, she pointed at Sola's breasts. The red-haired woman nodded in understanding, also blushing slightly.

After that was done, Irisviel helped Sola dress again, then pushed the temporary wheelchair-bound woman towards her bedroom. They ate the meal Irisviel had already prepared earlier and then, after she cleared the small portable eating table and put it away, just sat there in silence, both lost in their own thoughts. Irisivel thought Sola had fallen asleep after some time. She had to yawn herself.

"Good night, Sola." She stoop up, turned-

"Good night, Irisviel." Came the soft whisper from Sola, and Irisviel froze for a moment, before relaxing.

"Sola?" She asked.

"Hm?"

"Are we friends?"

A brief silence hung in the air. Then Sola sat up. "Come here." She said.

Irisviel did, although she was a bit confused. Then, to her surprise, Sola took her right hand with hers and squeezed it softly.

"Not only did you save my life." Sola began. "You are also the nicest, most patient and reliable person I have ever met. You are a wonderful person, Irisviel. Of course we are friends, although I'm not sure why you would want to be friends with someone like me."

Irisviel could see that saying all of that kind of embarrassed the other woman and that she clearly had to muster up all of her courage to say it out loud. But the last part...

"Sola, you may be a little difficult sometimes. And yes, you made mistakes. But I have many reasons for wanting to be your friend. I like that you're not afraid to speak your mind, even if it makes you seem mean sometimes. I like that you're acting so haughty and arrogant if you get embarrassed or annoyed. I even like your sarcastic remarks, and the way you tell stories. You're also always trying to be nice to me, and I can tell that you're mostly being open and friendly around me too, in contrast to how you told me you usually act like around others."

Irisviel took a deep breath, feeling a little heat rising up to her cheeks at having said all of that. "Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I like you. And that you consider me your friend makes me very happy."

"... I-I see." Sola's facial color almost rivaled that of her hair. "I'm happy too..." She eventually managed to say.

"I think I should leave now, before I'm falling asleep on your bed." Irisiviel joked. Rather appropriately, Sola yawned again.

The silver-haired woman took that as a sign to get up. "Good night, Sola." She said again.

"Good night, Irisviel."

After Irisviel left the room, Sola finally allowed herself the smile she was too embarrassed to show the other woman. It was a smile full of happiness and relief, and Sola felt like crying too. Right now she could ignore how fast her heart was currently thumping, she could forget her thoughts about how beautiful Irisviel looked like in the moonlight. She could only think of one word again and again, even almost sang it in her head.

The word was "friend", of course.

* * *

**Author's Note: **T'was longer than the chapters I usually write, but I didn't want to split it. If you felt like slapping Sola at some point in the story, good, because I sorta intended that. XD

I hope you liked the chapter, and have a nice day!


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